GF baking isn't easy

Gluten free baking is not like normal baking, cakes don't usually rise as much, dough has a different texture and things don't always work out.

I've had lots of success with gf cooking and baking but it is important to share there have been lots of interesting concoctions......

I remember one morning getting up to cook myself and my husband some pancakes for breakfast, I had a packet mix which a friend had given me. Good idea but a massive mishap! They turned out a weird grey colour and had the consistency of a glue like dough. My husband took one look at the pancakes and put some toast on, I had to prove a point, so I smothered a few pancakes in golden syrup and tried to eat them. Tried is probably the best word to use, I could only eat a few mouthfuls, they were rather disgusting! So the whole lot got tossed in the bin!

Then there's the shortbread that I attempted to make.... You have to make the dough and put in the fridge for 30minutes to 1 hour, we had to leave a family emergency and it was several hours before we got home. I got the dough out of the fridge when we returned and proceeded to cook it. I really don't know if it was because the dough was in the fridge too long (that's my excuse and I'm sticking too it!) but it wouldn't brown up and was in crumbly chunks! I tasted a bit and it did resemble shortbread but it was just too hard to eat. After all that time and effort, the shortbread too ended up in the bin. Washing up endless dishes after baking is bad enough, when you have an end product that you can eat and enjoy, it sucks when you ruin the dish and you are washing up what seems like thousands of dishes with no reward at the end!

My most recent blunder in the kitchen was actually the day I posted up the recipe for brownies! I've cooked these endless times before and thought it would be nice to have for afternoon tea. I was caught up in the excitement of starting the blog and mixed everything up but forgot to put the sugar in. As I poured it in the tin it didn't look quite right and I couldn't figure out why, then I tasted it. YUCK!!! No sugar, I poured the mixture back into the bowl added  sugar and put it back in the pan. It just didn't turn out right, it tasted a bit funny and stuck to the pan, most of it ended up in the bin too!

I thought it was important to share my blunders as well as my success stories. Each day I post up a recipe that I cook and it works out, but there are often things that don't. So don't be afraid to have a go with cooking and messing up a dish is part of learning, the important thing to remember is to make sure you get back in the kitchen and have a go again and have fun while your doing it!

Recipe of the Day
White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Hazelnut Sauce
From The Gluten- Free Kitchen by Sue Shepherd

I cooked this for the first time last night, everyone loved it, every last mouthful was eaten! I didn't have panna cotta moulds, so I just used some glasses.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used essence and it was fine)
1/3 cup sugar
50g white chocolate
3 tablespoons boiling water
1 tablespoon powdered gelatine

Hazelnut sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons coco powder, sifted
11/4 tablespoons GF cornflour
11/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons hazelnut liqueur (I used Frangelico)

Method
Heat cream, milk, vanilla, sugar and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat. Stir occasionally until chocolate has melted.
Combine the boiling water and gelatine in a small heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a larger bowl of boiling water, stirring constantly until the gelatine has dissolved. Stir the dissolved gelatine into the chocolate mixture. Pour into panna cotta moulds (or glasses, see picture if unsure of amount) and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight until set.
To make the sauce, combine the sugar, cocoa and cornflour in a small saucepan. Stir in a little milk to form a thick paste, then add remaining milk and mix well to ensure there are no lumps (I used a whisk for this). Stir over medium-high heat until the sauce has thickened slightly, then remove from heat and stir in hazelnut liqueur. Transfer to a jug, over and refrigerate until ready to serve, pour over the panna cotta.

Enjoy
xxxx

A dress for the puffer fish

I know that I had a wedding story for you last post, but this one isn't about my wedding, it's about my sister's.

She got married in 2008, BD (before diagnosis) and our lovely friend made both the wedding and bridesmaid dress! Which was fantastic and as I was the only bridesmaid I had a big say in the design with only the bride to keep happy and not 10 other bridesmaids!

The sad thing was that my primary concern and design request was that it had to be loose and flowing around the stomach because I had no idea when the puffer fish would emerge. Remember at this stage we didn't know what was causing it but thought it had something to do with endometrosis.

Thankfully for my sister, we both liked 50s style dresses, which fit in perfectly with the theme and allowed for the puffer fish, without everyone thinking I was 5 months pregnant!

I remember the lead up to the wedding, I was so scared that my stomach would explode and I wouldn't be able to fit into the dress, not only that I was worried about being doubled over in pain. I had my collection of pain killers and anti inflammatory's ready on the day in case the puffer fish reared its ugly head.

I was fortunate that the puffer fish did not rear its head on the night of the wedding and everything went off smoothly.

The sad thing is that I had to design a dress to accommodate the possibility of the puffer fish!

Restaurant of the Week
The Arthouse Cafe at Narellan is my recommendation for this week. I have eaten there on various occasions for breakfast lunch and dinner. All meals have a gluten free option (though they don't have any gf toast for breakfast) and the waitress and chef are very accommodating to your needs. I did select the risotto here for dinner and checked with the chef what stock they used, thankfully they make their own stock and the puffer fish did not emerge. The GF symbol on the menu makes selection easier and provides for a more relaxing and enjoyable dining experience.

Recipe of the Day
Lamb in cranberry sauce
This recipe is from taste.com.au, the originally recipe was for lamb shanks but on the advice of my butchers I use Lamb forequarter chops (they are much cheaper and taste just as good)! I have also changed the recipe to cook in the slow cooker at the end (the meat will fall off the fork).
I'm cooking this tonight, so I'll add the picture when its cooked!

Serves 4 adults
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1kg lamb forequarter chops
20g butter
2 tablespoon plain flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup red wine
275g jar whole berry cranberry sauce
1/4 cup fresh rosemary sprigs (I used dried rosemary)
1 tablespoon thyme
Mashed potato to serve

Method
Heat oil in large saucepan over high heat. Cook chops, in two batches, brown on both sides. Remove to plate.

Melt butter in dish until sizzling. Add flour and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and slowly add stock, wine and cranberry sauce. Season with salt and pepper and rosemary and thyme and bring to boil.

Put lamb in a slowcooker and add sauce and put on medium heat for 5+ hours.

Serve with mashed potatoes (add cheese or garlic for a twist on traditional mash).

Enjoy

Wedding mishaps

For those of you who have read my profile will know I was recently married, December last year. It was wonderful, honestly the best day of my life. The reception was at a function centre at the beach, with the glass doors looking out onto the water, beautiful!

Anyone who has been married knows the thousands of things involved in making the big day happen. As a coeliac my first question when we started looking at venues was can you provide a gluten free option for me (without being grilled chicken and vegies!!, had that before). At our chosen venue I was guaranteed that the meal would be gluten free and that they cater for people with dietary requirements frequently, not a drama madam!!

I put faith in their claims and was very excited about the food tasting that we were invited to attend, for free (though the overall price of the venue for the wedding per head I'm sure we paid for it in those costs!).

We went along and were given a three course meals with canapes, there was a wedding in the next room and the chef made extra for us and some other couples who were having their reception at that venue in the near future.

The entree wasn't something that we would have first picked a pork belly dish, it sounded very fancy and exotic on the menu (as most dishes do). It was surprisingly delicious, we were sharing the meals, but I gobbled up my half, scraping the sauce, it was so delicious!!!

As you know I enjoy to cook and I loved this entree, I asked the waitress if she could find out what was in the sauce, I wanted to give this a try at home! She came back a few minutes later after talking to the chef, to tell me that of the many things that were in the sauce, soy sauce was one of the main ingredients. My first thought was crap, I hope they have used gluten free soy sauce! Surely though, a big function centre like this, knowing my dietary needs who ensure that it was gluten free, so I pushed the anxiety to the back of my mind and enjoyed the rest of the meal.

During the final course I started to feel a bit funny, maybe it was just that I ate alot......

Sure enough it started in the car on the wary home, the puffer fish reared its ugly head and the pains and wind started (not a pleasant trip home for both of us!!). I felt crap for the rest of the night, the first thing I did when we got home was heat up my beloved wheat bag and curl up on the lounge.

My first phone call the next day was to the wedding coordinator, to let her know that there was something in the pork belly sauce that contained gluten, probably the soy sauce and I had a reaction! I was not happy!! What if this happened on my wedding day!!!, the puffer fish isn't a good look in a wedding dress! It wasn't just me I was worried about, for some reason we had a number of guests who had dietary requirements, mainly due to allergic reactions! One good friend in particular was highly allergic (anaphylaxis) to peanuts, I certainly didn't want her having a reaction on the wedding day!

Every phone call or meeting we had (and there were a few) after the food tasting, I mentioned my concerns and how important it was that they adhered to the dietary requirements!

As much as I liked the pork belly, it just wasn't worth the risk on our wedding day, not a fun way to spend the wedding night either! So I opted for the prawns (which were lovely), and definitely no risk of containing any form of gluten.

People's ignorance of how much food contains gluten, particularly chefs is rather annoying! This mishap, along with numerous others, has taught me to ask further questions even if the meal states its gluten free. If you think there is something like stock or soy sauce in the meal, ask the waitress to check that the product the chef is using is indeed gluten free. Don't worry about appearing rude or annoying, trust me its much better to ask, even if it annoys the waitress or chef then to have the puffer fish emerge and spoil your night!

Recipe of the Day
Chinese Marinated Pork Ribs
Serves 4 adults

Ingredients
12 pork ribs
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup port (cheaper kind)
1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground chili (optional)
2 cloves finally chopped garlic

Method
Place ribs in a bowl and pour all ingredients into bowl, mix through, ensuring ribs are well coated. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour (the longer the ribs are in the marinade the better). Cook ribs on a grill for 15 minutes or until cooked through, baste with marinate as you are cooking.

I served ribs with rice and vegetables. I cooked the rice in a rice cooker and added 1 teaspoon of beef stock to the water, gives the rice a bit of flavour. I also cheated for the vegetables and used frozen steamed vegetables, you just place the bag in the microwave for a few minutes and serve. They taste good and its better than throwing away vegetables that have gone rotten in the vegetable crisper!

Enjoy
xxx